James Cohan Gallery Finds Rare Scale at the Venice Biennale
Venice is offering James Cohan Gallery something mid-sized dealers rarely get: outsized visibility. At the 61st International Art Exhibition, the New York gallery represents four artists connected to the Biennale, with three — Ranti Bam, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and Kennedy Yanko — presenting their own work and Yinka Shonibare appearing through Guest Artists Space Foundation, the Nigerian residency he founded.
The concentration is notable not only because of the Biennale’s prestige, but because the central exhibition remains its most influential arena. This year’s edition, “In Minor Keys,” was shaped by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who died last year at 57. Her team is carrying out the exhibition she envisioned, and the result places participating artists at the center of one of contemporary art’s most closely watched stages.
For James Cohan, the moment is both an artistic and financial commitment. The gallery closed one of its three Manhattan spaces last year, yet in Venice it is supporting production, travel, logistics, publicity, and a slate of social events. That level of investment is familiar territory for the largest global galleries, but less so for a dealer operating below the mega-gallery tier. In Venice, however, scale can be built through concentration.
Nguyen’s contribution is an hour-long film about the Vietnamese Senegalese outlaw Bouba Chinois, which will be screened on two massive screens in the Arsenale. Bam created five 6-foot-tall ceramic heaths for the Biennale. Yanko produced a 20-foot sculpture, one of her largest works to date. The gallery has also helped secure funding and manage the practical demands that come with a presentation of this size.
The commercial stakes are visible as well. Bam’s works are priced at $75,000, Nguyen’s film at $150,000 per edition, and Yanko’s sculpture at $500,000. Cohan is also hosting a celebratory luncheon at the St. Regis Hotel with Salon 94 and Esther Schipper, while collectors including Pamela Joyner are organizing additional events around the artists.
Venice has long been more than an exhibition site. The Biennale once maintained a formal sales office until 1970, a reminder that commerce has always shadowed its cultural authority. What changes from year to year is which galleries can convert that authority into momentum — and this June, James Cohan Gallery has placed itself squarely in that conversation.
